Mercury's Guardian
by SiriWesen
Summary: The story focusses on Nowell, daughter of Mia. It starts three years before the events of Golden Sun DD.
1. Imil

_Okay, just so you know:_

_English is not my mother tongue. But I wanted to reach a wider readership, so I decided on writing this fanfic in English. In addition it has been years since I last wrote a fanfiction or anything like it. Just wrote some P&P RPG, but never sth real FF like. So I hope my expression is not as horrible as I think it will turn out. I'll give my best to avoid extreme mistakes in grammar and such, but can't promise that._

_About the fanfiction: It is supposed to focus on Nowell. And for most of the story her brother will be around. And of course Kraden that old man.. yeah... This chapter is more written from their father's point of view, but I think this is okay, cause I really wanted to include him a bit._

* * *

It has been 27 years since the mercury lighthouse had regained its true form. A long time ago, the town south from this majestic ancient building had been only a village. A village that often experienced hard and cold winters. On some days in winter there was no sunlight to be seen. The amount of long warm summer days counted only a few. In fact, the weather hadn't really changed at all through all the years.

But after the Golden Sun released the long away sealed energy on all over the world known as Weyard this cold and unfriendly region had changed. It changed a lot. Of course, there were monsters in the beginning. They were strong and frightened travellers in the beginning. But there was something, something very unique about the lighthouse and Imil, that motivated people from all across the world to visit the snowy regions around the lighthouse.

Imil by now had grown. There were a lot more houses and families started living here. Not only young families, but old long married couples began to start a new life in Imil. Despite the cold weather it promised something to its citizens, that no other place could. Health.

When the light appeared first on the mercury lighthouse, people could not believe their eyes. The old ancient spring of the lighthouse came back to life. It was filled with water that would cure every disease. It ceased the pain and aided the ones in need.

This water was the reason, why citizens of Imil never died in pain, but because their lifetime was over. It is said, that ever since the water appeared, people did not cry as much about their dead beloved ones, as before. It is said, that the souls of the dying people in Imil truly are the luckiest ones.

Though it was common for tourists and travellers to stop by and drink from the ancient well, there were only a few who had access to the lighthouse itself. To say it precisely, there were three. Those three were the last remaining members of Imil's Mercury tribe.

Psynergy had become a lot more common in Weyard than it was before, but it still depended on the region were you lived, how adepts were treated. A lot of people had reasons to see a threat in that mystic power. But in Imil Psynergy and its users were highly respected. As they were able to heal people's wounds and pain and they had access to the lighthouse, it was just likely, that the oldest of the three adepts was a priestess.

But not only that. The young looking woman with blue hair and gentle eyes was also known as one of the Warriors of Vale. Mia has already passed the 40 year mark and still, she looked so much younger than her true age. This was one of the reasons, why she was seen as some sort of saint in Imil. Even before she started her journey with Isaac, Garet and Ivan, she had guarded the lighthouse, studied psynergy, lectured younger kids and of course she helped the ill and weak ones. And in all the years guarding the lighthouse and helping the the townspeople, it had been of course unavoidable, that she had fallen in love with a man.

This guy was considered the luckiest guy in Weyard by the citizens. Mia was the personification of what was considered as „the perfect wife". Her husband's name was Noah. He wasn't an adept, but he knew a lot about psynergy and was always fascinated by those great powers the adepts held. He started business in Imil twenty years ago and after lots of effort, he finally managed to date Mia. The problem with taking Mia on a date was not, that she didn't like him or dates at all, it was more the problem, that every time they tried to agree on time and location, Mia had lots of stuff to do and it was a real miracle to Noah, that they managed to meet each other, just the two of them, at all. Well, their first date lied back years from now and their little family had recieved some new members. Nowell and Rief were both water adepts and looked a lot like their mother.

Noah often thought, that the Psynergy-Gene must be very dominant. He always wondered, which of his kids was more like his wife. They shared lots of characteristics but then again, they seemed to be really different from Mia. Maybe they got at least the "personality-genes" of his side of the family.


	2. Our future

"Is it really necessary for us to come here every day and check on the lighthouse? I mean, you always lock the door with psynergy when we leave anyway, so why do we have to check on it all the time?" The girl asking was 13 years old, she had long blue hair and smart eyes.

"Nowell, I told you already, we have to make sure, that no one enters this building without permission. It would be a disaster if someone without psynergy entered these sacred rooms.", Mia answered. "I just want you both to know this place as good as I do. I have been here a lot since the day of my return and as members of the Mercury Clan we have to make sure, that everything is alright in here." Nowell knew, that guarding the lighthouse was very important to her mother. But the girl could not stop thinking, that she might have another reason, why she checked the lighthouse every day.

"Well, upstairs is everything okay. Nothing changed." Her younger brother Rief came down the stairs. "Rief! How many times do I have to tell you not to wander off alone? You know, that mum doesn't like it if we seperate from another. Especially in this place, where..." "Nowell! Calm down. There is no need to be so angry with your younger brother.", interrupted Mia her daughter. Then she looked at her son, who was only 11 years old. "You don't have to smile like that, young man. I know you like this place, but you should not wander off like that. If we go here, we go together. Going alone is dangerous and even though the psynergy seal at the entrance is there, there could be monsters all the time. So please, don't scare me by going away like that."

Nowell shook her head: "You go way too easy on him, mum. How the heck is he supposed to be a strong and mighty warrior, if you never yell at him?"

"A-actually.. I don't want to be a warrior... I-I think I want to be really wise man, who knows everything about psnergy and Weyard.", Rief answered.

Nowell looked at her younger brother. "Yeah, I figured that already out. But do you really think you can travel all across Weyard without a single fight?"

"W-Well, I sure can, if I got company..."

"Company? Who do you think would travel all across the world from Imil? There is no way anyone would leave this town..."

The siblings both knew it was true. No one from Imil was a traveller. No one left for adventure or foreign countries. And they both knew, that they both had to stay here and guard the lighthouse. Because they had to. It was their duty as members of the mercury-clan. Mia recognized the sudden silence between those two. "Well, let's leave this place for today. I would like to practice some basic psynergy with you, before it gets dark!"

Nowell sighed. In general she enjoyed training and studying a lot. But when she thought about her future, she had no chance to dream about it. Because every time she tried imagining exploring foreign countries, her look fell on the mercury-lighthouse. This god-damn lighthouse. As fascinating as this building was, and though her psynergy was stronger near the beacon, she couldn't like this place. Because she knew, as the older sister she would have to stay here and guard the lighthouse. She just knew it. Of course everyone would say, that it was Rief's duty as well as hers, but Nowell just knew, that Mia hoped for her to be the next guardian. She knew it, because the way of training was slightly different from that, what Rief learned. And this was not because of their difference in age.

Nowell wrote everything she did and learned down in her diary. She could exactly tell which tasks and duties she had to perform when she was at her brother's age. And there was also her brother himself. Though she always mimed the superior older sister when they had people watching them, she knew, that her brother was, despite of his shy character, meant to be a scholar. Some one who knew the world. He had every talent for that. He studied really hard, he was able to read at the age of four years. He could quote the whole story of the "Warriors of Vale" and he was like a living dictionary!

The last thing was Nowell as well, but she was more specialized in special topics than her brother. He knew everything in general. I tried learning and absorbing everything. Each fact that might matter some time he tried to remember and it was amazing what he could do with his eleven years. While he read encyclopaedias, history and science books, Nowell read a lot of fictional and mystery novels. She just loved being able to forget this land of snow and to imagine to live in a different time, a different place. Being a different person. As much as she loved being an adept, as much hated she the imagination of being bound to this lighthouse for all of her lifetime.

Sometimes, only sometimes she thought, that this was, what her dead uncle Alex must have felt like, when he still lived here. Before he left and became a traitor. She could never shatter her mother's hopes for Nowell's future. She loved that smile on Mia's lips. This gentle all-sin forgiving smile which cheered her up, every time she was sad. Her mum was not only her mum but also her teacher. She was indeed inspiring, but now that the Winter reached out for the land again, she had the feeling, that everything became dull.

An hour later they stopped practising their psynergy and went on their way home. Rief seemed to be really exhausted from his training. Nowell wasn't feeling any better. Mia made her practise with the mercury djinns. Though they gave the adepts greater power it wasn't particularly easy to summon them proper and effective. "Mum, you said a while ago, that Isaac and your other companions have kids as well, right?", Rief suddenly asked. "Yes, dear, that's right. What about it?", Mia replied surprised. "Well.. what are they like? I mean, are they great adepts? Or don't they have any power at all?" Mia thought for a short moment, before answering. "Well, as far as I know from Isaacs letter, their kids are adepts as well. But I don't know any details..."

"What do you want to know that for anyway, Rief? It's not like, that they're going to visit us. Imil is far out of direction. And Isaac and Garet have to guard the old Sol Sanctum, so there is no way they would visit with their kids. And crossing the Goma Mountains is for us by now far too dangerous!", Nowell added.

"Yeah, I know, but... if they are really adepts... I just would like to meet them. You know... meeting other kids,... like us!", said Rief and Nowell knew what he meant.

The two siblings weren't really outsiders or anything, but they were treated special. Because they were Mia's kids. The adults knew about their psynergy and thought really high of them, because both of them studied and trained a lot. Nowell did not exactly know, what people saw in them, sometimes she wished for being a jupiter-adept. Then she would have been able to read their minds. But more important to the two young adepts than the adults were the other kids in town. Some of them were quite nice. But Nowell never managed to get close to any of them. Sharing secrets, laughing at silly stuff or playing with dolls... for some reason it was not possible. It was not because they had not any free time to spend with other kids. But neither Rief nor Nowell could resist using their psynergy to make some games more "fun". One time Nowell played with the neighbour's daughter. They both had dolls and took them outside. They started building homes for their dolls and Nowell suggested using psynergy. But the beautiful shaped home out of ice did not have the wanted effect on the other girl. First she was surprised, then impressed but in the end she started playing with some other girl, excluding Nowell from their plays.

Her brother didn't have the same problem, but he had one. The one that he was always right. He just was the type of person who could not stop correcting other people. And he wasn't liked for that. He had some friends, but Nowell did realize, that they were always mocking him a bit. Of course this could be just joking among boys, but Nowell knew her brother. She knew, that he didn't like it being called "Four-Eyes" or "Smart-a-pedia" (the boy who came up with that name, was punched by Nowell. Really. Hard. He still feared her wrath). Rief said, he didn't care about those names. He said, they were nicknames, this would be normal. But Nowell thought of them as insulting and if she was her brother, she would freeze that boys into ice.

By the way, there was no boy in all of Imil who was any interesting at all. In her books the heroines often had a guy they liked. A guy who would comfort them on their quest. Some dude who was smart, pretty damn cool and a warrior. But there was nobody even CLOSE to that in Imil. The boys her age were... just stupid. She would never admit it, but she was glad her brother turned out like this. Well, he wasn't a playboy either, but at least he was a person she could talk to.

They arrived at their home and to their surprise, there was not only their dad at home. No, there was an old man sitting on a chair, taking notes and babbling some stuff in his beard. "Mia, is that you? It is good to see you.", the man said, as he noticed the three persons in the door. Nowell and Rief looked from the old man to her mum and back at him.

"Kraden? You haven't changed at all, if I may say so..." Mia closed the door and greeted the foreigner with a hug. Rief and Nowell looked at each other. Did their mother just call that guy "Kraden"? Kraden the wise scholar? The one that travelled all across Weyard, who studied Alchemy under the legendary Lord Babi and who was present when the lighthouses were lit?

As fast as they could the siblings tried to get rid of their shoes, gloves and scarves. When they followed their mother to greet the prominent guest, Kraden already asked: "So these are your children, I suggest?"

"Well it's more than obvious", commented Mia's husband, who was cooking dinner back in the kitchen. Kraden laughed and looked at the siblings with his eyes, which seemed to know the answer to everything. "Yes, that's right. This one is my daughter Nowell, 13 years old and my youngest one Rief, he is 11. I did not expect you to be here so soon, Kraden. Any reason for that?", Mia introduced her children.

"Well, I have to admit I was just curious about them. I already got to know Isaac's and Jenna's son and of course Garet's kid was there as well...", Kraden answered, still observing Nowell and Rief, which felt after a while quite uncomfortable, because they did not exactly know what was going on. "Well, you know, it is good to see you Kraden, but, the thing is, I haven't told them yet." "Haven't told us what?", Rief and Nowell asked at the same time.

Mia smiled. "I could not help but realized, that you two got bored the last weeks while training and studying. Though your results were pretty good, your minds weren't present. So I asked Kraden if he could come and stay a bit as our guest. And of course as your new teacher."

Neither Nowell nor Rief knew what to say. Her brother was the first one, who found the right response. "It- it is an honour to study under the great Kraden! I won't disappoint you, Sir!" "Leave the 'Sir' aside, but I'm glad you both seem to like the idea.", was Kradens response.


	3. Favourite book

Dinner was really quiet today. The reason was simple. The siblings still tried to realize that they would have a new teacher from now on. Not any teacher. Kraden, the man who travelled with her mum 30 years ago all across the world. Nowell didn't know what to ask or what to say, though she had a lot of questions. She wanted to know, what the other lighthouses looked like. The mercury lighthouse was filled with lots of symbolism and old relicts that represented the water element. Sometimes, Nowell had the feeling, the lighthouse wasn't made out of stone, but of water itself. It wasn't made of Ice, that was sure, but the building was so perfect to represent the element of mercury. And Nowell wondered if she would feel the same way at the other lighthouses. Maybe they all looked alike, but what if, each of them was really made out of pure fire, earth, wind or water? Maybe Kraden knew something about that! She looked towards her brother. He was eating quietly and watched the old man talking to his mother. Well, Nowell wouldn't call Rief's gestures eating. But she didn't know what to call it either. Rief was picking single carrots and potatoe pieces with his fork, but he did not eat them, just placing them in various ways on his plate, as if he was constructing some building. On normal days, Nowell would have scolded her brother for doing this, but not today. She realized, that the adults were talking and talking and they didn't recognize the children's moves.

Nowell started stuffing the food into her mouth and swallowed everything at once. After clearing her throat with some water, she stood up from her chair and said: "Mum, Dad, Master Kraden? Rief and I are done eating! May we leave our seats?" "But I am not do-", Rief started arguing, but the look his older sister silenced him.

Mia looked at them, surprise was all over her face. "I thought you wanted to stay and ask Kraden some questions?" "Well, yes, of course, but... all that studying and training today was really exhausting. I don't think my brain will work and ..", Nowell started explaining. It was more a lie than an explanation and she was sure, that her mother knew that. "Well, you're right. You'll have lots of time for questions.", Mia smiled and Nowell took her brothers arm and pulled him out of the room, upstairs into their own four walls. "Nowell, what's wrong with you? Why did you lie to mum! You aren't exhausted! You shouldn't lie to mum! And you did it in front of Kraden! This is so embarassing and...", Rief started complaining about Nowell's behaviour.

"Well, did you know, what to ask Kraden? Did you? You were just building lighthouses with your food! You didn't eat anything and I just couldn't stand this atmosphere down there. So shut up!", replied Nowell. "I hate it when mum is talking with adults about stuff we don't know and stuff we will never know because those stuff lies in the past! I hate that!"

"Nowell..."

"I like their stories... I love them, you know that. But then again, I hate it when they just focus on talking about weird stuff we don't understand. And they don't recognize that and continue talking about all this and..."

"But it is Kraden she is talking to! Kraden! Nowell, he is going to be our teacher!" Rief sighed satisfied. "And we are... his students."

He let himself fall on his bed. Nowell and Rief slept in a high sleeper bed. The upper bed belonged to Nowell ("Because I am the older one!", was her argument). Her brother's bed was the lower one. The room had a floor made of dark wood. Two desks stood in the room surrounded by books and paper. While her brother had all of his favourite books in his bed, together with a plush polar bear, Nowells bed was filled with plush animals and a single book layed under her pillow. She always often read the stories written in there and she just loved everyone of them.

Nowell opened the book with the simple title "Lemuria". She looked at the pages, she wasn't reading the words, but just staring at them. "Rief?"

"..." No answer.

"Rief!" Nowell looked down on the bed of her younger brother who had started reading one of his books and wasn't reacting to her shouts. She grabbed a blue plush rabbit and threw it at him. He looked up.

"Hey! Why did you do that!"

"Because you are not listening!"

"I am reading this book!", Rief replied angry.

"Yes! And you read this book last week! And last month you read it as well! So you know its content! Which means, you should be able to listen WHILE you're reading!", was Nowell's response.

"Well, yes, I know the content, but that does not mean, that I don't have to concentrate while reading it! Now, what do you want?", her brother asked.

"Master Kraden visited Lemuria, right?"  
"Oh, no... not this again.. do you still have that book under your pillo-" Another stuffed animal hit Rief's head. Nowell had blushed in her anger. "Well fine, idiot! At least I don't have thousands of books in my bed! No wonder you need to wear glasses!" She turned away from her brother, faced the wall, laying on her bed and stared at the pages of the book. Her mother gave it to her, when Nowell started reading. She said, that a good friend of hers gave it to her, after the great journey. In the book were plans and stories about Lemurian ships, architecture, history, traditions, about their long lifes and most important to Nowell, they were Water adepts. Nowell never met another water adept from her mother and her brother. She sighed. Lemuria sounded like a fairytale version of Imil to her, when she was younger. They had, after all the all-disease-curing mercury-water. It was able to defeat death. It helped the holy tree Tret, when he was about to die and it helped Imil's citizens a lot. But in Imil were just three water adepts. The last members of the mercury-clan and there was no one else around.

Lemuria, a city surrounded by water, with giant ship with with dragon heads and great water adepts, all masters of their element. Lemuria must have been a beautiful place. But the changes of the enviroment in Weyard drowned Lemuria in the sea. Before it was already unknown, a lost civilisation, hidden between rocks and water so wild, that just the ones knowing the secret passage would survive. Yes, Lemuria must have been paradise. And it was gone forever. But Kraden had the chance to visit that place. He had the chance to travel on one of their boats. And Nowell wanted to know everything about that place. The place were time stopped existing, where age didn't matter, this sounded so impossible, but it had to be true. Nowell would have done everything to meet a true Lemurian. Meet another Mercuryadept. Meet the other clan.

She started writing her daily entry into her diary. This was the second book she had in her bed. Only those two. It wasn't locked, she knew that Rief would probably read it, but his moral instinct wouldn't allow that.

The next morning arrived in Imil, Nowell climbed down the bed and looked out of the window. Grey clouds were hanging on the sky. She had direct view on the lighthouse. Suddenly she saw a shadow in the clouds. She wasn't sure what it was. It was near the lighthouse, right above. It was way too big for a bird or any sort of animal she knew. Curious Nowell grabbed her telescope. "Rief! Rief! Wake up! NOW! There is something at the lighthouse!", her brother searched for his glasses. Nowell lookd through the telescope. The dark thing in the clouds was still just a shadow. "What is that?" Her view fell on the top of the lighthouse. Nothing. Then she looked at the entrance downstairs, where the psynergy seal was. "The seal... the seal is gone! Rief look! The seal is gone! The lighthouse is open!"

Rief finally found his glasses and Nowell gave him the telescope. He look through it. "What are you talking about? The seal is still there, unharmed. You saw it youself, mum created it yesterday and then we left. There is nobody!"

"What, but.. there … the seal is gone! Look at the door, sleepy four-eyes!", Nowell replied angrily.

"And there is no big shadow thingy in the clouds. Sleepy yourself!", Rief said and returned to his bed.

Nowell looked through the telescope again. The shadow was gone. And the seal was there. Again. "But.. but.. but... I... I... really.. there was no..." she stuttered. No sign of strange events at the lighthouse. "Maybe.. I am just dreaming?", she whispered.

_I love writing those quarrels among the siblings..._


	4. Secret

The daily routine arrived early enough. Although Nowell and Rief both were eager to use the chance to learn from Kraden, their mother insisted on going to the lighthouse with them. Nowell sighed and started complaining. "But Mum! We go there every day! It is nothing new to us and it is not like you can't go alone! Just this time! Just today! Pleaaaase! Very, very, very, BIIIIIG Please!" "There is no way for you to skip your duties as a member of the mercury-clan, young lady! Kraden will be here all day and you had yesterday at dinner the chance to ask him.", replied Mia. Whoever said that woman was an angel, she definitely wasn't in Nowell's opinion right now. Mia was a strict mother, when it came to the lighthouse. "But,... but.. mum! Please!", Mia shook her head. "Now get our gloves and scarf, we'll leave the house now. It is cold outside!"

Rief had watched the argue and stayed silent. When Nowell took her boots, she hissed at him: "Why don't you help me at all? I thought you are excited as well, about Master Kraden?" "But I don't mind going to the lighthouse. Mum is right, when she says, we can't skip our duties.", he whispered. "Well, that's typical of you! Always mummy's boy, aren't you?", was the only thing Nowell had to say about that. She often ended up arguing or fighting with her mum about stuff. And this time it was something that was also important so Rief, she had hoped for a little help from her little brother. The girl always had the impression, that it was easier to get something allowed from her mother, when Rief wanted it as well.

But there was no way on skipping this part of the day. While they were walking towards the lighthouse Nowell thought about the stuff she saw this morning and wondered, if the seal still would be there.

"By the way, why were you arguing this early in the morning today?", Mia started asking their kids. 'Damn, those walls', was Nowell's thought. Mia always knew, when her kids argued or fought about something in their room.

"Oh, it was..." Nowell looked to Rief, whose look definitlely said, that Nowell imagined things,

"Nothing... just nothing."

"So if you two talk about 'nothing' next time, please, lower your voice.", was her mothers answer. Nowell was thankful that Mia didn't started asking more questions. Mia was so sensitive about the lighthouse, every stranger, every movement around it made her nervous and overprotective.

They reached the tall building and entered as always. Mia deactivated the seal and they checked if everything was okay. "Okay, fine, everything is alright, we can go now! Right?", Nowell asked her mother. "Nowell, stop being so impatient. I just thought, you would like to look around in the building for once on your own?"

"Wai- what... Really?", Nowell didn't know what to say. Mia never left them alone in the lighthouse. Exploring the lighthouse on their own was a no-go. There was no way, her mother could be serious about that.

"What about me, mum? I want to go, too!", Rief started begging. He was eager to get the chance to explore everything on his own, but Mia denied it.

"Rief, you're too young and you're combat skills aren't as good as your sisters." Nowell grinned. Yes, she loved it, when her mother scolded Rief. "Now about your activities. I want you to return in twenty minutes. Don't go to places you don't know. And don't go up to the top of the lighthouse! Is. That. Clear. To. You?" Mia's words didn't allow any other response than: "Yes, mum."

Nowell ran off and left the two other adepts alone. Now she was here, all by herself. In the mercury lighthouse she hated so much. But still, being here all on her own, was a great thing. It meant, her mother trusted her. "YES!" Nowell was glad no one could see her doing some sort of "winner dance". It looked really awkward and revealed, that she had no talent for dancing at all. But then again, what exactly was she supposed to do? What wanted Mia her to do? And of course, this "check the lighthouse all on your own"-thing was another proof for Nowell, that she was supposed to be the next "Guardian" of the lighthouse. She reached the room, that was filled with lots of water and where you had to jump from one platform to another, or at least walk over the water. Nowell sighed and started freezing parts of the water and melting it again. "This is so stupid!", she muttered. "And boring."

"It is. Isn't it? Finally you're alone to be here by yourself, but in the end you're doomed to spend all your life here. Frustrating, right?" A voice appeared as if from nowhere. Nowell looked around. There was no one. This was definitely a man's voice. 'So I was right after all! Ha! Who is sleepy now, Rief!', Nowell thought, still worried about that voice. She wasn't imagining thing. She wasn't, was she?

A strange short noise was behind her. She turned around and a blue haired man with a mask look at her. "So you're Nowell, right?" Nowell wasn't able to do anything. She just stared at that man, masked, tall, scary... but.. familiar. She wanted to scream. A foreign, scary dude with a mask randomly talking to her in a place where NO ONE ever should be, except for members of the mercury-clan. "Satisfying, that at least one of Mia's kids has the right way of thinking to fear monotone duties and reach out for change..." This stranger knew her mother?

"Who...", Nowell tried starting a sentence, still staring at the long hair of this guy, that had just the same colour as her mother's. "By the way, you should watch your back while daydreaming in the lighthouse." Just now Nowell realized the dead creature lying behind the stranger. It seemed to be some sort of monster. "Ah... eh.. thanks.", was the only thing she could say. "I think I should get some sort of thank you for saving your life? Ah, yes, this should do. Let's keep this a secret, that we met each other, okay?", the man smiled, it was gentle smile, but Nowell thought, that he was hiding something behind that smile. Something really big. But thinking about her mother's reaction was worse than keeping this little secret. The man didn't look like an intruder at all. His whole appearance looked like, as if he was meant to be here. "I won't tell anybody... but..." Before she was able to finish her sentence, the stranger disappeared right before her eyes. 'He must be an adept!', she thought. But who the hell was that man? His clothing was way to noble for a thief.

Nowell was worried about her mother and Rief. She decided to return. Mia seemed glad to see her daughter. "Nowell, is everything okay? You look pale! Did you get cold?", she started asking. "No,.. everything is fine. There was nothing up there.", she had problems to say that straight into her mother's face. But she had the feeling, it would be better, to keep the secret secret.

_I think Nowell might got some characteristics of Alex, though it isn't obvious. Her feelings regarding the lighthouse might be similar to what Alex felt as a young man, I think... Of course this is just my interpretation. ;)_


	5. The teacher

They left the lighthouse. Nowell was silent the whole way back home. She desperately tried to ignore her brother's questions and get a moment of silence to think about that intruder. "Nowell, no come on! Did you see something interesting? Did you meet a djinn? What were you doing all the time upstairs? Oh, please, please, tell me, tell me! I would tell you, if you asked me! Oh come on, now tell me! I want to know!"

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP FOR JUST A MINUTE YOU STUPID ANNOYING BRAT?!", Nowell suddenly shouted at Rief and right after that she saw how tears appeared in his blue eyes. "Oh please, no... don't cry... for god's sake, don't...", were Nowell's thoughts. Their mother was ahead of them, quite enough distance that she wasn't able to hear the very one-sided conversation. But when Rief started crying once, there was merely a stop to it. And Mia had some sort of sixth sense for her little boy.

Nowell tried bring an end to the tears of her little brother. "Oh- Okay, I tell you, I tell you. But please, don't tell mum, that-" "That what, Nowell?", a voice asked behind her. Nowell sighed, turned around and was pretty sure, Mia's gaze could kill an entire civilization, if she really wanted to. "Mum, I.. er... Rief was asking questions and didn't stop asking and..." "Well, I don't care. It is a very positive character trait to ask questions. You as his older sister should know that and answer him, when he asks you. You have seen parts of the lighthouse he may not have seen before! So you should try to tell him about them!", lectured the lighthouse's guardian. She went on eye-level with her son and dried the tears with her handkerchief. "So, everything okay. No need to get so upset about your sister. As soon as you're old enough you can go to the lighthouse whenever you want." She smiled at him and in an instant Rief started smiling back. "I'm cold! Can we go home, NOW?", Nowell interrupted the harmonic scene and started walking ahead. "Stupid Rief, getting all the love and positive feedback from mum!"

Kraden waited for them at the entrance of the Imil. "Kraden, how long have you been waiting here outside?", Mia was surprised seeing the old man waiting for them. "Oh, don't worry, it hadn't been too long. So, are you done with all the work? I'd like to have some time with the kids." "Oh, sure. Glad you ask, I really need some more time for Noah. They keep me busy all day..." "That's just the way Youth is."

Did they just talk about Nowell and Rief in third person, while they are present? Such a typical and terrible trait of adults. Always talking about their kids without considering, that they might be listening! Rief didn't seem to are about that. Instead his eyes were filled with enthusiasm. Nowell wasn't able to mindread, but right now, she knew what he thought.

When adults say, they'll just talk for 5 minutes, the conversation lasts for at least half an hour. Today they were waiting a complete hour for Kraden and Mia to finish talking. Terrible. It was cold, it was wet and boring! And there was no way to escape. Just standing there, waiting for them to realize, that they're talking the whole time and ignore Nowell and Rief.

The siblings and Kraden went to the local sanctum. They sat down on the chairs and an awkward silence ruled over the three of them.

"Now, Nowell, Rief... you're both adepts, right?", Kraden made the attempt to start a conversation. Nowell wondered if he ever had students before. But she was sure he had. He was a wise man. He wasn't an adept but he travelled all across Weyard.

"Yes, we are both mercury adepts. I guess we are the future for our clan... since our uncle isn't alive anymore... right?", Nowell took the chance to ask about Alex. Mia told both of them about their uncle, but due to the thing that happened today, Nowell wasn't sure about that. Mia didn't tell them much about Alex as well. Just that he betrayed Imil and the Clan.

"Yes, Alex, your uncle, has been dead for 30 years now. And there was no sign, that he could have escaped the disaster at Mt. Aleph."

"What was he like?"

"Hm", was Kradens first response. "It was always hard to tell what was on his mind. He was manipulating all the people around him and in the end, especially for the Proxian Warriors it took a very bad end to work along with him. But why do you want to know this? Didn't Mia tell you about him?"

"No special reason. Mum never really told as very much about him. And we never met another adept, especially mercury adept, aside from mum."

"So adepts are still special in Imil?", asked their teacher intested, "You see, in other parts of Angara is psynergy nothing really special anymore. You still don't find adepts everywhere, but psynergy is a well-known power."

Now Rief finally entered the conversation: "Kraden- urgh" "It's Master Kraden!", Nowell interrupted him.

"Master Kraden, what will you teach us? You said you would be our teacher from now on and I wondered, what..."

"Ah, getting to the point, right? Well, I plan on teaching you the basic knowledge about Weyard, it cultures, continents and important places for adepts. I think you should know, how to behave outside of your home town and how to interact with foreign people.", their master explained. This sounded indeed interesting. But then again: For what would they need all that knowledge? "It's not like we're going to leave this place anyway...", muttered Nowell to herself.

They next few hours they spent discussion various topics. Nowell enjoyed all the stories of her new teacher. He told them about Tolbi, Kalay, the forest of Morgal, how the desert changed into a snowcovered mountain range. Nowell was surprised how many places Kraden had visited in his lifetime. And despite his long white beard and the wrinkles in his face, he still looked young. Mia had mentioned before, that the Warriors of Vale don't age as fast as other people do. Kraden was everything but a Warrior, but he travelled with the group and maybe the golden sun stopped his bodies' aging process as well. While Nowell just enjoyed Kraden's descriptions of various tribes and cities, Rief always tried to get more and more details. Nowell did not understand everything the old man was telling them. Especially when he started describing things, he used some sort of scientific language and Nowell still didn't know what a palm tree was. At the moment it was just a tree that grew at the beach and had giant balls as fruit. The image of people bathing in the ocean's water was so strange to her. The ocean in Imil was always cold. There was no way anybody would go there to swim around.  
It was evening when they got home. "So about that Great Gabomba statue... was it really just a machine that the people of that tribe worshipped or was there really a Great Gabomba inside?", Nowell asked, when they entered the house. "Well, I'm not sure about it. The whole statue was a machine after all, but then there were signs that the Great Gabomba really exists."

Nowell wanted to ask further, but then she spotted her mother. Mia had that look, as if she had something like a lecture on her mind. But as soon as Mia's: "Nowell, would you mind if we two had a talk under four eyes for just a minute?" came to Nowell's ears, the girl knew, this was something more terrible than a simple talk. It would be an inquisition.


End file.
